Developing a management information system for a hospital: a case study on vendor selection

This study examines the decision-making process that a medium-sized hospital took to develop a management information system. Since system developers in this particular hospital were all users without system expertise, a substantial amount of time was devoted to their search for relevant information. Outside consulting, literature review, and a market survey were conducted for the developers to understand the characteristics of systems products on the market. Developers also invited extended user participation in vendor evaluation. The authors analyzed the reasoning process behind the successful selection of a vendor-supported information system. The findings provide hospitals of similar characteristics a decision model to follow in their search for a vendor-supported information system.